The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) has welcomed Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz’s statement that amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and divorce) Act 1976 will do away with unilateral conversions.

"The MCCBCHST’s consistent stand has been that to ensure justice and to abide by the constitution, there can be no unilateral conversion of minors.

"That is, both parties to the marriage must consent before a minor can be converted to another religion," said its vice-president Jagir Singh in a statement.

This, the group said, is consistent with the cabinet's April 2009 decision that requires both parents to give consent before a child of a civil marriage can be converted to another religion.

Yesterday, Nazri told a news portal that the LRA amendments will eventually do away with the thorny issue of unilateral conversion.

Jagir noted this is the first time since 2009 that a minister has stated that the earlier cabinet decision will be adhered to.

He related that MCCBCHST lawyers previously faced deadlocks in meetings with the Attorney-General's Chambers in 2010, 2012 and 2014, where the proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 1976 (LRA) still allowed for the unilateral conversion of a minor.

"MCCBCHST could not agree to such unilateral conversion being allowed," he stressed.

Long wait for justice

Jagir mentioned two cases, that of non-Muslim spouses Indira Gandhi and S Deepa, whose husbands converted to Islam, which have been fought through the courts for the last seven years.

In Deepa's case, the contention was over the matter of the dissolution of marriage and child custody under a civil marriage when one spouse converts to Islam.

Indira's case meanwhile concerns unilateral conversion of children conceived under a civil marriage.

Jagir said in Deepa’s case, the court had delivered judgement in January that “the civil court had the exclusive jurisdiction to grant decrees of divorce of a civil marriage under the LRA and to make all other ancillary orders".

The Federal Court had further stated it would be an abuse of the process for the spouse who has converted to Islam to file for dissolution of the marriage and for custody of the children in the syariah courts.

Jagir posited that with the decision in Deepa’s case, the only thorny issue left was whether a single parent could convert a child without the other parent’s consent.

The courts meanwhile have to decide in Indira’s appeal to the Federal Court on the status of her children's conversion by her convert husband.

The case, Jagir said, will be heard on Nov 15, although he hoped Nazri's announcement may render the matter academic, if indeed what the minister has said is passed into law.

End to loophole hoped

MCCBCHST expressed its confidence that if the unilateral conversion loophole is closed off, then there would be no more cases like Indira and Deepa in the future.

Indira's and Deepa's cases are landmarks in the fight by MCCBCHST and those who are seeking to ensure that unilateral conversions will not take place to the detriment of the non-Muslim spouse, who at present find they have no locus standi to challenge any arising legal decision in the syariah courts.

This is because some Muslim converts from a civil marriage have used the loophole of unilaterally converting their children to Islam, and then proceeded to file motions of custody in the syariah courts where their non-Muslim spouses do not have the standing for legal representation.